By Any Other Name
by Aoikami Sarah
Summary: Ginji, Ban and their uncommon friends are targets in a sinister plot... Genderbending and love without boundries. GxB but not the way you'd think.
1. The Lost

**By Any Other Name…**

A Get Backers Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

_Written February 26th 2003_

The sun was just setting. Shadows were long and twilight obscured the shapes of trash receptacles and cardboard boxes. Amano Ginji stepped into the mouth of the alley.

"Kadsu-chan?" he asked the stillness. "I'm here, what's up?" He smiled and pretended not to be worried, but his eyes told the truth. A cat jumped onto an old-fashioned tin trashcan. The lid crashed to the ground. Ginji jumped at the sound, and then gasped in alarm as a gloved pair of very strong hands grasped his arms. "What the...?" he began. Something sharp pinched his arm and he crumpled.

**.x.**

Mido Ban looked at the clock on the wall again and sighed melodramatically.

"What's wrong, Ban-san?" Natsumi asked as she dried a coffee mug.

"He's late," Ban frowned. "That idiot. He knows we've got a job."

Paul looked out at the skyline. Mugenjou looked twice as threatening in silhouette with the bright red setting sun behind it. "Red sky at night…"

"Sailor's delight!" Natsuki finished.

"Too bad we're land-locked," Ban snorted.

The bell over the door jingled, echoed by the tinkle of the bells in Kadsuki's hair as he stumbled into the Honky Tonk. One hand was clutching his shoulder, which was bleeding. "Mido-san," he whispered. "They got Ginji…" Kadsuki fell against the bar.

"Kadsuki!" Ban leapt up and helped him to a booth. "What the hell happened?!"

"I don't know who they were. These women. They were so strong… three of them. They tried to abduct me. Said they already had Ginji…"

Ban looked feverishly at the clock again. His partner in the retrieval business was an hour late. "He said he was going to meet you!"

"And so, I was told to meet him. I was set up."

Ban snarled and got the details. Kadsuki had been told to go to a secluded location. He assumed to talk with Ginji about the days of VOLTS without upsetting Ban, who disliked his dragging up the past. When Ginji didn't show, three, incredibly strong women in plain, black suits appeared. They didn't seem to want to kill him, but Kadsuki narrowly escaped being captured. Ban wasted no time. He jumped in his Subaru 360 and rushed to the scene.

In the abandoned storefront on the edge of Mugenjou, Ban saw a smattering of blood that Kadsuki had left from his encounter with the mysterious super-women, but not much else in the way of clues. Kadsuki had no idea where Ginji had been told to meet him. It could have been on the other side of town for all they knew.

It was dark. Ginji had still not appeared. Ban crouched and shone a flashlight on the dusty floor. He saw the footprints of three sets of stiletto heels and the longer prints of Kadsuki's shoes. He could re-create the scuffle from the evidence. Any idea that the he could have lied about the attack disappeared from Ban's mind. Kadsuki's trademark strings were scattered everywhere, severed by something fast and strong enough to fight them. Among the traces, Ban saw a small collection of longish, red curly hairs, perhaps pulled out during the struggle. He took these with him.

**.x.**

The following morning, disguised as a lab technician, Mido Ban snuck into a genetics research facility and ran a test on the red hairs he had found in the storefront. He noted the date the results would be available (two weeks from then) and seamlessly snuck back out again.

"Two weeks," he growled as he walked down the street. "I don't have two weeks." Ginji had still not returned or called to say he was all right. Something was very wrong. Ban had done his best to shrug it off for the sake of Paul and Natsumi, but Kadsuki knew very well just how serious this could be.

"Hey, Snake Boy."

Ban kept walking. "So Kadsuki told you, eh Monkeytrainer?"

Fuyuki Shido was leaning against a wall in a shallow alley as Ban passed. "You don't sound like someone who's concerned."

"So sorry," Ban snarled sarcastically.

Shido followed him. "Kadsuki sent me to find you. I have been sent a similar note to the one he received before his attack."

Ban spun and shouted at him. "Where?"

"Tonight, a construction site east of Mugenjou. I know I can't stop you from following me…"

"You mean you need the backup!" Ban grinned.

"You saw what happened to Kadsuki…" Shido didn't rise to his taunting. "And we still don't know what happened to Ginji."

Ban narrowed his eyes and cursed under his breath. "So you and me have a date with some tough chicks tonight. We'll have to show 'em a good time."

**.x.**

As the sun set that evening, Shido noted Ban's position and approached the meeting place. The large raven on his shoulder squawked in alarm. "They're here already, eh?" He drew upon his power to see in the shadows. His eyes became yellow and slitted. "Come out from behind there, ladies. I have some questions for you."

The first was a blond with a long braid. The second had short dark brown hair and the third had shoulder length red hair. All three wore plain black women's suits with short skirts, white shirts and skinny black ties. Their eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses.

The brunette did handsprings toward Shido while the other two rushed him from the sides. He managed to knock two of them away, but the fifth latched onto his arm and pulled what looked like an oversized pen out of her breast pocket.

"I'll take that!" Ban shouted as he swung down from a girder two stories above them. He snatched the pen from the woman and stood back to back with Shido.

"Always gotta make a scene, eh, Snake Boy?"

"Shut up, Monkeytrainer. Just be lucky she didn't get you with this," he held out the pen for him to see in the fading light. He clicked the top to expose a rather large hypodermic needle.

"Sedative, eh? So maybe these chicks aren't as tough as we thought."

"Let's find out." Ban clapped his hands together. "Red," he called out to the red haired woman. "I'd like a word with you about a friend of mine."

All three women paused, nodded in silent agreement and leapt up into the air, leaving three smoke bombs behind them. Ban and Shido tried to follow, but the smoke was noxious and they were forced to give up.

"Damnit!" Ban slammed his fist into a steel girder.

"At least we got a souvenir." Shido commented. "Perhaps it will lead us to Ginji."

"Perhaps," Ban muttered in disgust.

**.x.**

Ban took the hypo-pen back to the rented computer space above the Honky Tonk and dusted it for prints. He logged these and looked for any sign of a maker's mark. The only thing he found was the make of the needle inside. He looked up the brand and found that only one place in Tokyo had bought a supply of them in the last year. "Genco Industries," he mused aloud. "Don't think of doing anything without me, Kadsuki," Ban shouted to the silence, sure that the string user had bugged the place. They might have been on the same side, but there was little trust between Mido Ban and the two former Kings of Mugenjou.

The other interesting thing about the needle was that it wasn't typical. Such a large type was for veterinary use. Perhaps it had been stolen from somewhere, but at least they had a place to start.

In the wee hours of the morning, Ban set out for the headquarters of Genco Industries on the outskirts of the city. The industrial district was lonely and quiet, between shifts of factory workers and arrivals of trucks full of raw materials. The Genco building appeared deserted. Ban assessed the security cameras and leapt the fence. He rounded several large tanks marked with an explosive warning and broken in through a maintenance entrance.

Once inside, Ban took down two heavily armed security guards and followed his ears to an open area. Below him, he could see a wall of eight-foot tall cylindrical containers. He could now hear what the men were saying.

"…In two more days."

"Very good. And Amano?"

"Complete. Would you like to see, Maestro?"

The men walked around a corner. Ban straightened up to see where they were going and felt something heavy come down on his shoulder blade. He crashed to the floor of the metal cat-walk, slamming his chin on a rung of the railing as he went.

"Well, well. If it isn't Mido Ban," the red head from earlier smirked. "We've been looking for you." She pushed her sunglasses closer to her face.

"Shit!" he hissed.

"Like the shades?" she purred. "We know all about your evil eye. You're quite the specimen. You'll be a wonderful addition to Maestro's collection." Red pointed not a gun but a grenade launcher at his head.

"If you were a guy I'd say you were overcompensating for something…" Ban sneered as he got to his feet. He put his hands behind his head. "But since you're not, I guess you're just an idiot."

"Shut it!" She hefted the launcher onto her shoulder. "Move. Down stairs."

Ban did as he was told, hoping to get closer to this Maestro person and hopefully find out where they were keeping Ginji so that he could come up with a plan.

Below, a half dozen men in white lab coats and one particularly corpulent man in a grey, tailored business suit were supervising a bank of scientific looking equipment. Ban recognized life support and monitoring devices, but not much else. They all seemed to be attached to the wall of cylinders. The place wasn't very well lit, so he didn't see what they contained till he was brought face to face with the man they called Maestro. He gasped at the sight. They were in a circular bank of about 10 units, five of which he could see from this angle. Three of those cylinders he could see contained people, suspended in a sort of pink liquid. Their EKGs blipped in chorus.

His cool composure fell. "What the hell…?"

"Welcome, Mido Ban. We've been hoping you would find your way here some how," the fat man began.

"Where's Ginji!"

He laughed and pushed his sunglasses closer to his face. "Oh don't you worry about your friend. You should be worried about yourself."

The blond pulled a hypo-pen out of her pocket and approached him. Ban weighed all the factors in his head, but before he could react, the pen flew out of the woman's hand.

In seconds, the room filled with din of thousands of scurrying feet as multitudes of rats poured in through every crack and crevice. The brunette pulled the sticks out of her hair and threw them at Ban. They sliced into the flesh of his arm as he dodged. She chased after him, pulling more of the razors out of her clothes and almost out of thin air. The blond watched the wave of vermin as it came closer to the computers and equipment.

"Don't let them near the cables!" Maestro shouted as he made a hasty retreat. She stood firm and opened her mouth. Shido called off his rats quickly as he saw them turn and flee. He held his ears against her attack.

"Shido, what did she do!?" Kadsuki asked as he tangled up a bunch of armed thugs. "I don't hear anything!"

"It's too high pitched!" Shido shouted.

Blond grinned once the rats had gone. "Too high for you? Try _this_!" She opened her mouth and again no audible sound came out. This time, the floor buckled and Shido was bowled over backwards. He slammed into the concrete wall and slumped to the ground.

"Shido!"

Ban turned as he heard Kadsuki shout. "This is a mess!" He bum-rushed the brunette, taking a razor in the side but was able to lay into her with one of his 200kg punches. She slammed into one of the cylinders, cracking it. He made to run around to the other side. 'Ginji… I'm coming!'

"Forget about me?!" Red shouted, and fired off her grenades at him.

"What are you, nuts?!" Part of the un-occupied bank was blown to bits. He opted to charge this woman as well, knowing he could do nothing to her as far away as he was. She looked confused, but crazy as she set of a volley of blasts which detonated all around. Ban knocked the weapon from her hands and grasped her throat. "Knock it off!"

She simply grinned wider and produced three lit bombs from her pockets in each hand. 'She gonna blow herself up!?' he thought wildly. Ban pushed her away and she threw the bombs into the air with a wild cackle.

"Mido-san! We have to get out of here!" Kadsuki shouted.

"No!" Ban started to run around the bank again, but one of the bombs detonated in front of him. Further behind that, an enormous explosion sounded as one of the fuel tanks just outside the building went up. It shook the whole place, causing bits of the ceiling to fall in. Ban growled and tried again. This time, the second container blew. The only thing preventing him from being killed instantly was the bank of cylinders, but his path was completely blocked. He could hear the third container start to groan as it got hotter and hotter from the heat of the first two.

"Ginij!!!" he shouted as the fire spread.

Shido and Kadsuki had to drag him out just in time. The last tank blew, and with it the entire laboratory. Ban watched the blaze, felt its heat on his face and he knew his friend was gone.

"Ginji…" he choked.

Sirens alerted his companions. All three of them disappeared into the dawn.

_To be continued…_


	2. The Found

**By Any Other Name…**

A Get Backers Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Two**

It was a full week before Mido Ban was seen in the Honky Tonk again. One rainy Monday afternoon he walked in slowly, his eyes fixed on the back of the room and wordlessly took a seat. Natsumi and Paul exchanged looks but let him alone. Ban sat with his back to the door and read a newspaper.

Shortly afterwards the bell over the door jingled.

"Hello, Hevn-san," Paul greeted the middlewoman.

"Hi, Paul. Oh good, he showed." She sauntered to the back of the restaurant. "Hi Ban. How are you?"

He didn't answer her. She seated herself on the other side of the booth.

"I'm glad you agreed to…"

"I said I would listen to you," he said quickly. "That's all."

She shuddered as his piercing blue eyes met her golden ones briefly. "Right."

Hevn gave him the details of a job, which he turned down, giving her no reason. She didn't argue. It was too early for him. Ginji had only been gone for a week. She said good-bye and left without a fuss.

Natsumi stared at the back of Ban's head, trying to will him to turn around and talk to them. Worry creased her brow. Finally, she filled his personal mug with coffee and took it over to him.

"Ban-san," she began meekly. "If you want to…"

"I don't need your sympathy!" he barked. Natsumi jumped back in surprise and started at him for a moment before turning to run away. His hand clamped down on her wrist.

"Natsumi-chan, I'm sorry," he whispered. "What were you going to say?"  
She sighed. "If you want to talk… I'm here."

He looked up for a moment and gave her a small, sad smile. "Thanks." She knew he'd never take her up on the offer, but it felt good to put it out there: to let him know that she cared. She smiled back and went to make a fresh pot.

The bell over the door jingled again. A woman rushed in to avoid the rain and stood close to the entrance for a moment before moving towards the bar. She was of average height but a little shorter than Natsumi. Her blond hair stuck out in random directions. It and her clothes were dirty. She wore a large 'I Heart Tokyo' tee shirt, a small pair of shorts and hiking boots. She was nearly soaked to the bone. "Excuse me," she began in a timid voice. "Is this where I can find the Get Backers?"

Paul and Natsumi looked from her to Ban. He didn't move. Paul shook his head slowly. "Sorry, kid. Not right now."

A look of devastation fell across her face. She stared at Natsumi as she poured the fresh coffee into a carafe to keep it warm.

"Would you like some coffee?" Natsumi asked.

"Oh!" The young woman covered her mouth, embarrassed to be caught staring. "No, I don't… No thank you…"

Paul slid a cup towards her. "On the house." He watched Ban out of the corner of his eye. "You look like you could use it. You've got rain in your eyes…"

Ban turned his head just enough to look at her but to their disappointment he turned back to his paper.

She thanked Paul and warmed her hands on the mug. When she had finished, she thanked him again and made to leave.

At last Ban got up. "Please wait." He pushed his glasses up on his nose and folded the paper under his arm. "I'm Mido Ban of the Get Backers. How can I help you?" She looked up at him and a glimmer of hope returned to her eyes.

"I need to find a missing person…"

Ban scoffed. "Then go to the police." He walked past her.

"I did!" she choked. "The missing person is _me_!"

**.x.**

Ban sat across from the young woman and watched her with a raised brow. "You _are_ the missing person?"

"Uh huh…"

"Ok, you better tell me the whole story."

"Well," she started. Paul and Natsumi were leaning over the bar listening with interest. "A few days ago I woke up in a park, I think… I was… I didn't have any clothes on… and I was all beat up," she said in a quiet voice. "I found a garbage bag and wrapped it around me… then I found a car… I mean a ride. I flagged a car down. Finally one stopped. The lady driver asked me my name… and I didn't know it. I didn't know where I lived, what school I went to, nothing!

"The nice lady took me to the police. Then the Police took me to the hospital. The doctors said I hadn't been… um… molested or anything," she said gingerly "but I had to have a lot of bandages and stuff." She shook her head a little to bring herself back to the telling of the story.

"So anyway I was sitting in the hospital bed, sure that the cop was going to come in and say 'oh yes, So-and-so, everything is going to be ok…' when I heard him just outside the door talking to the nurse. He said that my prints and DNA came up blank! I wasn't in the records. Then he said that it was prob'ly 'cause I was yakuza or something and that they were gonna take me back downtown and lock me up till they found out who I was!" Tears came to her eyes. She balled her fists. "I got so freaked out I ran away. I still don't know how I did it, but I jumped down this fire escape. Must have been two stories!" she laughed nervously.

"So, Miss… Eh…" Ban began.

She pouted. "Might as well call me what the cop called me."

"What's that?"

"Doh Jein"

"Jein. You have no idea who you are," he said plainly. "How do you expect to pay me?"

Jein lowered her head. "I'll give you everything I have once I know. Name your price." She looked up and stared calmly into his eyes. "I've been staying in homeless shelters for the last few days. There's all sorts of people there. They may not have anything; no money, no home, no future even, but they have their name: their identity. I don't care if I ever remember my past, especially if the cop was right and I'm some sort of underworld scumbag. I want my name back. Will you help me?"

Ban blinked a few times as he stared into her wide, brown eyes. "Sure. I got nothing better to do." He stood and nodded his head. "Come on. I've got a shower back at my place."

Jein blinked at him several times but didn't get up. Natsumi dropped a coffee mug.

"You smell like a dumpster."

"Oh!" she piped and scrambled after him as he left the shop. It had stopped raining, for now.

**.x.**

When Jein got out of the shower, Ban was sitting in a dilapidated chair with his feet up on the table smoking a cigarette. She clutched the towel to her gaunt frame and cleared her throat. "Ano, Mido-san. Do you have a big tee shirt or something I could wear?"

He crushed out the smoke and crossed to the dresser. Clothes were hanging out of the drawers. Ban hesitated, then pulled one open. "Here." He tossed her a white tee and a pair of men's shorts as well as a pair of clean tube socks.

"Thanks!" she chimed and ducked back into the bathroom. When she came out, Ban didn't look up at first. "Ano, Mido-san… Is there anything smaller?" She hiked up the long shorts which only just rested on her bony hips. She practically swam in the tee shirt.

"Be thankful you got that much," he muttered and lit another cigarette.

"Oh! I am! I didn't mean…"

Ban waved, dismissing her error. She sat down on the floor of the little room and tried to keep the wide neck of the shirt from showing too much off.

"So," he said in a puff of smoke. "Where do we start? Where did you wake up?"

"I think it was a park…"

"Which one?"

"I don't know."

"Then you flagged a car down. On what road?"

"A big one…"

"Four lanes? Six? Ten?"

"I... I'm not sure…"

"Which police station were you taken to?"

Jein shook her head.

Ban sighed, exhaling a large plume of smoke in the fading light. "How 'bout the hospital?"

"Ah!" she cheered. "University!"

"Good. That's in Bunkyo. That's a start." He leaned over a map of Tokyo. "There are at least two police stations close to University Hospital." His fingers traced the lines radiating from the hospital to the police stations. "And plenty of 'big roads' around both. The person driving you, did they seem to know where they were going?"

"Yes. She said something like 'I'll take you to the nearest police.' It was a short ride, I think."

Ban nodded and continued to study the map. "So from this station there's one, two… three parks along the major roads, and this one… There's only the one park. It's mostly an industrial district…" His finger came to rest over the location of Genco Industries. He hadn't noticed her come over to the table. When he looked up, the cigarette drooped from his lip as he stared into a pair of huge, brown eyes. Jein smiled.

"Then we should start with the parks, right, Mido-san? Maybe something will trigger my memory there."

Ban swallowed deep. "Yeah. Let's."

**.x.**

The fourth park they visited was just as anonymous as the first three. She couldn't find even so much as a familiar trash receptacle. They sat on a bench and watched the sun bleed across the sky. "I'm sorry, Mido-san."

"It's ok," he sighed and tried not to look at her. '_What was that back there?'_ he wondered, remembering her bright eyes flashing at him. '_She's nothing like…'_

"Wai!" Jein shouted, breaking Ban's reverie. "Look, look, Mido-san! Duckies!" She was a good ten feet away, crouching in the grass, surrounded by geese from a nearby pond. They honked happily and she laughed like a child.

'_Alright. She's very much like him….'_ Ban blinked a few times and had to look away for a moment. "Hai, hai," he moaned. "Get up from there! You're gonna get goose shit on you."

**.x.**

The next day the little 360 pulled up outside the research facility. Ban looked out the window at the building and squinted. '_Well, let's see if I get any answers today,'_ he thought.

"Ano, Mido-san…" Jein whispered.

"Let's go."

"Demo…"

"You want me to help you or not?" he grumbled as he got out and slammed the car door shut.

"Well, yes, but…!"

"Then you help me. This is child's play. Come on."

The elevator pinged and the doors opened on the 4th floor. Ban strode out wearing a white lab coat and a mask over his face. His wild hair and purple sunglasses made him stick out a bit. He started down the hall, but noticed he was alone. Hitting the button, the elevator doors opened for him again. "Come on. All you have to do is stand there and look cute."

"I'm not coming out. This is _prostitution_!"

"It's _distraction_!" he hissed and grabbed her. "It's just for a few minutes while I get some info." Jein skidded into the linoleum hall on five inch stiletto heels. Her nurse's uniform was clearly made for a dwarf and her ample bosom protruded from the extraordinarily low cleavage. She pulled the skirt down and glared at him. "You look great!" he grinned and slipped into the DNA lab.

In moments Ban had skimmed the records for the test he put in. Sample 3254-A yielded no match in the national database.

"No match!" he snarled. "Who the hell was that red-head bitch?!"

Jein poked her head in the doorway. "Mido-saaaaan!" she whispered pitifully. "If one more doctor tries to cop a feel I'm gonna seriously freak out!"

"Yeah, yeah. Come here for a sec." He motioned her over. She started to thank him but cried out in alarm instead. Ban pulled the needle out of her bum and walked over to the test unit.

"Are you crazy?!" she sobbed.

"You said the cop couldn't find a match, right? Well, I'm just curious what the pattern looks like." Her soft whining didn't sound convinced. "It could help me find out who you are."

"I thought you were working on another case?"

"I _am_. Nothing says I can't do both at once." He gave her a reassuring grin and sent her out to distract some more.

_To be concluded…_


	3. Maido Ari

**By Any Other Name…**

A Get Backers Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Three**

The month wore on and once again Jein's DNA test showed no match in the national database. Ban was beginning to think her case was truly helpless. He watched her hike up her oversized hand-me-down shorts before sitting on a stool at the Honky Tonk one afternoon and dazed out. '_Well, maybe having someone like her around isn't so bad…' _he thought dreamily. His eyes widened. "Che," he scoffed. '_Don't go there, Mido.'_

"Mido-san?" Jein asked, noticing his stare.

"Nothing. Hey, Paul," he said, quickly changing the subject. "Do me a favor."

"Ha," Paul laughed sarcastically. "You gonna pay your tab anytime soon?"

"Yeah, yeah, look, it's not for me… It's for him." His eyes met Paul's and told the barista who he was referring to.

"What is it?"

Ban went on to describe the three women who attacked him in the laboratory the night Ginji was killed. "A redhead explosives expert, a blond banshee-type and a brunette good with razors. Do some research for me, find out who they are, who they work for. Also possible shady dealings of a corporation called Genco."

Paul took notes.

"Genco Biotech Industries?" Jein piped. Paul and Ban stared at her for a beat till she held up the newspaper she was reading. "There's a big science awards ceremony thing tomorrow night in the Palace Hotel, says here."

Ban pored over the article, front page on the society section of a tabloid. There was neither a picture nor mention of the man called Maestro, but in the corner of the picture of a man labeled Genco's president was…

"Red." Ban grit his teeth. "That bitch survived?!" He slapped the paper down. "She's one of them!" Paul raised a brow. Jein sat up straight; her own brows came together with worry.

They walked back to their nearby apartment in silence. Ban sat at the little table and sucked on a cigarette while Jein lay down. He played with the hypo-pen, spacing out and losing himself in memories.

'_Fucking Red lived.' _His anger smoldered but he used the revelation to re-think this mystery. He put the pen down. "Jein? Can you… Heh," he laughed at the absurdity of what he was about to say. "Can you sing at all?"

She blinked a few times. "I dunno…"

"Try," Ban urged her and covered his ears.

"Mido-san…" she asked, pouting slightly, "why are you doing that?"

"Just go ahead, belt away, but uh… here." He got up and walked her to the window. "Sing out this way."

Jein looked very confused but shrugged and opened her mouth.

'_If she can break the glass it'll mean she's the Blond Banshee-type chick from that day…'_ Ban thought and clamped his hands over his ears.

"Eh… tou… What do I sing?"

"Anything! Just sing _loud_!" he barked.

"Uh-ok." Jein closed her eyes and thought. "Ima wa mada, hi mo tokenai, mune no oku no, garasu saiku. Shinjiteru, anata dake wo, kanjiteru…" Jein gasped as Ban's hand clamped down on her arm.

"How do you know that song?" he asked in a breathless whisper. Memories of Ginji singing "Ichibyo no Refrain" in the car flooded his mind.

"I… I don't know… is it a popular song?"

Ban let her go. "Yeah, it is. That must be it. You heard it on the radio," he said, defeat in his voice.

"Are you all right?" she asked as he sank into a chair and pulled out a fresh smoke.

"Just… be quiet for a while, ok?" The Zippo clicked open and the tobacco crackled under the flame. He exhaled slowly. '_At least she's not the Banshee Bitch…'_ he mused.

The door clicking open brought him back to his senses.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She paused. "I… I don't know. It looks like you need to think. I must be in the way."

"Don't be stupid," he grunted and stood up. "I can think with you in the room." He turned to face the window. '_Come on, you pussy,'_ he thought. '_Just admit it, you don't want her out of your sight.'_ "Che,"

"Maybe I can help you with your other retrieval?" she asked, brightly.

"Eh?" Ban looked at her. '_Big mistake, Mido. Don't look into those big baby seal-eyes of hers. They're worse than your Jyagan!' _his inner voice chastised him.

Her brown eyes sucked him in with their optimistic shimmer. "That Genco thing you're working on. Whatever it is you have to get back, maybe I can help?" she asked, coming closer to him.

"You can't help…" he whispered.

"But I want to… I owe you, remember?" she smiled innocently.

"You can't…"

"Please?"

"I said you can't! He's dead!"

She gasped in alarm. Finally, she saw it: the pain of loss etched beneath the usually calm, cool exterior. Her eyes fell to the right and the futon that she slept in every night. "He was your friend… and your roommate wasn't he?" When she looked back, the large brown eyes were soft and gentle. "It's his murder you're trying to solve, not a retrieval, right?" He nodded. "Please let me help you, Mido-san. It's the least I can do."

As the seconds passed achingly slowly, Ban's eyes began to itch. He blinked a few times, and tried to look away, but her eyes were pulling him, sucking him under. He bowed his head and leaned towards her. She didn't move away, but rather tilted her chin up to meet him.

Their lips met for just an instant. When her eyes closed, he was freed from their trap. Ban leapt back, knocking a pile of magazines off the table with a slippery crash.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted. "I don't know… why I did that, I…"

"It's ok, Mido-san." Jein crouched down and helped him pick the magazines up. "If I can help ease your sadness, I'd like to do that, too."

He swallowed hard and muttered dismissively.

They ate a dinner of ramen and junk food in silence. Her eyes had burrowed into his soul, almost controlling him. When he kissed her, he wasn't in his right mind, he was sure. He would never do something like that…

When it was time to go to bed, Ban presented something he had been mulling over in his head all evening. "Hey, Jein. Do you know about something called 'Jyagan'?"

She blinked at him a few times as she came out of the miniscule bathroom dressed in sweats for bed. "The evil eye?" she laughed lightly. "I guess I've heard of it."

"I posses this skill," he said very seriously. Jein sat Indian style on the bed and tried to look serious, too. "I can't dig down and unveil your past, but perhaps I can make you think back."

Jein winced. "Does it hurt?"

Ban chuckled softly. "It won't, I promise." She shrugged and let him sit next to her. He let his glasses slip down his nose. "Just look into my eyes…"

She gasped slightly as the Jyagan took hold. Her body went slightly limp, getting lost in the hypnosis. He wished he could see exactly what it was she was seeing. Only impressions of darkness and fear flashed though his mind's eye. She started to shake. Halfway through the minute-long vision, she began to call out.

"He… Hel… Help me… somebody please… Help me…"

Ban grit his teeth and regretted his decision. She was shaking so hard it looked like she was going to fall over. He reached out; ready to grab her if he had to. The minute ended and she drew a startled breath. Disoriented and frightened, Jein reached out for him. She finally stopped shaking as he shushed her, repeating how sorry he was. When she was all right, he dared ask,

"Did you learn anything?"

"Whatever it was… It was terrible. Dark, close, no one could hear me. Like I was buried alive!"

"I'm so sorry, Jein, I…"

"It's ok…" she smiled optimistically. "I feel closer to knowing. That's something."

He pulled away, wary of the power of her eyes. "You should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Mm!" She nodded. "Good night, Mido-san."

"Night, Jein." Ban gave her a small smile and turned out the lights.

**.x.**

As the scientific society gala geared up the following night, Jein and Ban pulled up in the 360 and flashed phony IDs to the ushers. Ban wore a collarless tux and Jein was poured into a sequined green affair courtesy of Hevn.

"Um, Mido-san…" Jein cinched the skirt down and followed him as they ducked out of the ballroom and down a service hallway.

"The dress looks _fine_," he hissed.

"That's not it. We're being followed."

"I know," he answered and kept moving.

"That's not very reassuring!" she moaned.

He opened the dumbwaiter and motioned for her to get in. She gave him a look that could freeze Sterno. "They'll follow me. Get out on the 23rd floor. I'll be waiting and if not, go to room 2345 and fake that your drunk."

"What?!" she cried as he pushed her into the tiny service elevator and sent it along to the upper floors.

"All right, you bitch," he warned and ran down the hall to the stairs. "It's me you want. Come get me!"

**.x.**

Back at the Honky Tonk, Paul was brewing a fresh pot of coffee when Natsumi found a piece of paper under a placemat.

"Master, what does "Red Explosives Blond Banshee mean?"

"Eh?" He looked at the note and nearly swallowed his cigarette. "Fuck! I forgot!"

**.x.**

Ban's footfalls echoed up the stairwell as he ran up flight after flight. He couldn't hear her yet, but the smell of sulfur told him she was just about to make an appearance. The steps below him fell out as the explosion sent shockwaves through the cacophonous space. '_She must be below,'_ he thought. "Trying to outwit the almighty Ban-sama, eh?!" He leapt down two flights of stairs to the 19th floor, yanked the door open and came face to face with Red.

"You little psycho…"

"We meet again, Mido Ban."

"You fucking bitch…" Seething, he stepped towards her. He couldn't see the panic in her eyes through her sunglasses but he knew it was there. He could smell it. "He meant _everything_ to me. He was my reason for living, he taught me what it meant to live and you took him away from me…" An aura of malice pulsed around him with each step. He cracked all the knuckles on his hands.

"Y-You're a monster!" Red turned, terrified beyond rational thought and started to run away. "Oh my God, somebody help me!" she cried.

"I'll help you!" Ban shouted as he caught up to her. "Suneiku Baitto!"

**.x.**

Jein pulled the dumbwaiter door aside and awkwardly fell out of the tiny box. She hit the floor and super deformed. "Ouch. That wasn't big enough for me, Mido-san…" she muttered.

"Need a hand?" someone asked from above.

"Oh! Thanks!" Jein smiled and reached up to the extended hand.

"Where you headed?" the brunette with the sunglasses asked.

"Well…" Jein grinned and remembered the plan. "I'm a little drunk and I can't remember where my rooooom is…"

**.x.**

Red screamed bloody murder in the hall of the 19th floor as Ban took the elevator up to the 23rd. "Pleasant dreams, bitch."

**.x.**

Natusmi bit her nails. "Is he picking up?" she asked again. Paul shushed her and rolled his eyes as he got Ban's long-winded cell phone message.

"Ban, Paul. Genco is bad news. Better call in some of the Mugenjou folks for backup on this one. They steadily hire protectors and transporters for all kinds of black market medical trade. There's reports that they do illegal human cloning and other really creepy shit. And those chicks came up blank. I got a couple _guys_ that fit the description…" he went on to give Ban all the info he gathered. And it would have been really useful right then, if Ban had his phone on.

**.x.**

Room 2345's door was ajar. Ban pushed his sunglasses up his nose with his middle finger. "This is gonna be messy," he sighed and kicked the door gently in.

It was a massive suite, lit up like a candle and glittering with gilt fixtures and other edifices of grandeur. He hated places like these: tacky hotels designed for the rich in order to make them feel above everything else in the world, including most of its population. Ban wished he chewed tobacco so he could spit a plug onto the lush, white carpet.

Just as he expected, he turned the corner of the little foyer and an annoying scene unfolded in front of him. The president of Genco Medical stood at the huge windows and picked his teeth with a toothpick like a gangster. The Banshee held a gun to Jein's head and the Maestro wore a shit-eating grin as if he'd reeled in the catch of the day. Everyone but Jein wore shades.

"Mido-san! I'm sorry I got caught!" Jein wailed.

"Mido Ban…" The Maestro began, smarmy and over-confident.

"Maestro, or should I say Hitachi Kanero?" Ban countered, sarcastically. "You're one slippery individual. It took my informant at least 20 minutes to find out who you were."

"Hitachi!" the president barked, upset. The Maestro waved his hand to calm him.

"Don't get so riled up, Taishou-san. Mido-san won't be a nuisance to us much longer. He was good enough to search us out, rather than have us find him for our little endeavor."

Ban was on top of it again. "Yes. Too bad I've come to end this sick little game you've got going here. Miss Banshee?" he asked, looking over to the protector. "I don't think you or your compatriots are aware of what's going on, because if this bastard did what he did to you _to me_, I don't think I'd work for him."

"What?" she asked, skeptically.

"Now, now, Mido. We do have a hostage here that I don't think you'd like to see hurt," Maestro warned.

"Oto Juunichiro, 27. Occupation, Protector," Ban informed. "Well known in the underworld for having a special talent of blasting the enemy with low or high pitched sounds emitted from his mouth. Last job was approximately three months ago. Hasn't been seen since. What do you think? Sound about right, Juunichi…ko?"

"It can't be…" she whispered, stunned by this surprise and leaned against the wall for support.

Maestro began to laugh. "You think you're so smart, Mido Ban?! So yes, we've been collecting and genetically altering those with special abilities; people whose memories and identification have been wiped clean but their abilities remain. We'll sell an army of them to the highest bidder." He took the gun from the startled banshee woman and pressed it to Jein's head. She didn't move. "Now tell me, Mido? Would you like to join our happy little family, or would you like to see you're partner die… again?"

"Wha…?" Ban lost all concentration. He stared into Jein's huge, brown eyes which were glazed over and unfocused. The president took a hypo pen out of his tuxedo jacket and walked towards Ban.

"You…" Jein whispered. A loud crack resounded. Maestro shouted in alarm and dropped his gun.

"What's the matter, Hitachi?" Taishou asked his partner.

"You did this to me…" Jein looked up at the Maestro and narrowed her eyes. "To all of them."

"Now, now, settle down," Maestro waved his hands and tried to recover his weapon. She stepped on his hand as she stood up.

"I-I will not forgive you," she hissed through her clenched teeth. The current was visible now as it arched around her. She grabbed the large man by the lapels and conducted the electricity through her hands to his heart. He screamed and thrashed for a short while before falling dead to the floor. The president wet himself. The Banshee sat and stared at her hands.

"Jein?" When she turned to look at him, her eyes were different, hardened, familiar. "Raitei…?" Ban whispered, astounded. Suddenly her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

**.x.**

Rain gently patted against the window. The little apartment was cloaked in the grey of early morning. The figure on the futon stirred and slowly sat up.

She stared out the window and dreamily looked down at her folded legs. Running her hands over the curves of her body, she stifled a sob and looked around the room. Ban was leaning against the far wall near the door. The pale light glinted off the sunglasses he always wore. She opened her mouth to speak, but the voice that came out was too soft to be heard.

"Is it true…?" Ban asked with a voice as dull as the morning sky.

Her eyes welled up as she nodded her head. "You got it back, my identity. I'm Amano Ginji."

He looked away and went for the door.

"B-Ban-chan, wait…" she reached out to him as he closed the door. Her hand fell limp and the tears flooded out.

**.x.**

As the sky cleared and the afternoon wore on Hevn entered the Honky Tonk looking for the Get Backers. Paul bid her to wait, hoping that Ban and Jein would show. He had gotten a call from Ban late last night saying everything was all right, but nothing more.

The bell above the door jingled and everyone looked up.

"Jein-chan!" Natsumi chimed and jogged over to her. "How did it go last night?"

"Well…" She squirmed. Hevn noticed that although this girl usually wore clothes supplied from Ginji's wardrobe, Ban had never before given her his usual green vest to wear. It dwarfed her petit frame, but she clutched it to herself as if she were cold. "All right, I guess," she muttered and looked up. "Have you seen Ban-chan?"

"He hasn't been in yet…" Paul raised a brow.

Natsumi laughed. "That's so cute, Jein-chan. You just called him Ban-chan! Are you guys an item already?"

She blushed crimson. "If you see him, I need to…"

The bell jingled again and Ban stepped inside. Everyone stared at him. He pouted and turned right around.

"B-Ban-chan…" she whispered and rubbed the back of her hand over her weeping eyes.

"Jein-chan…" Hevn rubbed her shoulders. "Did he do something stupid?"

Paul sighed, poured a cup of coffee and pushed it towards the girl. Knowing what he did about the protectors, he put the pieces together. "I'm so sorry, Ginji."

That broke the damn. Ginji wailed and threw her arms around an astounded Hevn, babbling incomprehensibly in her grief.

"So let me see if I got this straight," Hevn pressed her fingertips together and stared at the blond across from her. "The day you were kidnapped, you were taken to Genco where they somehow re-arranged your genetic structure…"

"Turning Ginji the boy into Ginji the girl!" Natsumi finished.

Ginji nodded slowly. "And now Ban-chan hates me…"

"Oh, Gin-chan, don't say that…" Hevn tried to reassure her.

"He can't even look at me!"

"Well…" Hevn made a face. "Were you guys… I mean, back then, did you… you know?" she made an obscene gesture with her hands.

"NO! I mean, not really, I MEAN!…" Ginji blushed and shook her head.

Natsumi held her hand. "Do you love Ban, Ginji?"

"With all my heart…" she sniffled.

"Does he love you? I mean, did he feel the same way when you were a guy?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

The other two women looked at each other. "Gin-chan," Hevn asked, leaning in, her breasts pressing against the table that separated them. "Do these do anything for you?"

"Do anything?" Ginji blinked.

"Hm, interesting. Usually I'd get at least a trickle…"

"Hevn-san!" Natsumi blushed.

"Of a nose-bleed, child. A nose-bleed."

"Oh!"

"Uh, Hevn-san, what are you talking about?"

Hevn clapped her hands together. "Looks like you're straight!"

Ginji blinked. "I am?"

"Well, you'd normally get a little aroused, right?" she pointed out. "So what's the problem? You're still a person that wants to be with Ban. Not that there's anything wrong with boy-love, mind you…"

"Unless..." she bowed her head. "Unless it's Jein he was in love with. He kissed me the other day. He kissed Jein."

The women went silent for a moment. It was Paul who broke the tension.

"Go find him, Ginji."

"Paul…"

The barista smiled. "Tell him how you feel."

Ginji smiled, finally straightening up and relinquishing her grip on the green vest. It flapped behind her like a kite as she ran out the door. "Thanks guys!"

"Good luck!" Hevn called after her.

Natsumi ran to the door and shouted, "Welcome back!!!"

**.x.**

The park was a peaceful refuge in the heart of the city. Pigeons and old people coalesced in the sunshine. Ban walked up to the central fountain and looked up.

'_Why is this happening?'_ his thoughts asked no one in particular. '_I lose him to death and now this…'_ Absently, he pulled a cigarette out and rolled it between his fingers. For the second time in his life Ban thought, '_what am I going to do without him?'_

The sound of pounding feet echoed off the statuary as they approached. Pigeons scattered, the runner slowed and stopped just a few paces from him. She sputtered as she tried to catch her breath.

"Bah… Ban-chan… Puh… Please… Oh my god… I think my lungs are gonna 'splode…"

He straightened up, but didn't turn around.

"Please," she begged. "Please look at me, Ban-chan…"

"Stop calling me that…" he muttered.

"Why? It's what I always call you," she protested. "I won't call you Mido-san. I'm not Jein, not any more. But I was her. Ban-chan, that was me. I was me, she was me and I am me! Nothing has changed!"

"Everything has changed!" He shouted and turned, but his eyes wouldn't meet hers.

"Do you love Amano Ginji?" Ginji asked, tears staining her cheeks. "He's right here. The package is different but the contents are the same. I love you, Ban-chan. That will never change. Please…" she sniffled. "Please don't leave me…"

Ban gasped, a pain like being stabbed in the heart shot through his chest. '_Stop being an idiot!'_ his inner voice shouted. '_Look at her, Mido. Just look.' _His blue eyes turned up and met those soft, brown baby-seal eyes, full of tears and hurt and he melted.

"Ginji…" he said for the first time. "I would never leave you."

Hope glimmered across her features, the pain drifted away like fog burning off under the noon-day sun. "You… you mean it?" she asked, tentatively.

Ban nodded slightly. It was all she needed.

"Ban-chan!!!" Ginji shouted and threw her arms around his neck. Ban returned the embrace, spinning her around a few times. Some old folks seated nearby applauded lightly.

"I missed you, Ginji," he whispered into her ear. He held her close and the icy pain of loneliness slipped away from his heart.

When she pulled back, her smile was radiant. "Come on, we're gonna be late!"

Ban raised a brow. "For what?"

"Hevn-san's waiting at the Honky Tonk. You know, Dakkanya Get Backers! Success rate 100 percent?" Ginji laughed and jogged ahead of him.

Ban smiled and lit the cigarette. "Maido Ari."

**END**

_Maido Ari[gatou means "thank you for doing business with us, please come again"._


End file.
